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Foreign Langauge

When I first came to live in the USA, good American friends would correct my grammar. One time when I said: I read that book. My friend said that it was more correct to say: I have read that book. But why? I asked. Both are in the past, why do I have to say “I have read”? How come you guys have so many ways to say the Past Tense when Hebrew has only one way? Her answer was (after some hesitation as she was looking for a real explanation) “It just sounds better.”

“But how would I (an Israeli) know that it sounds better? I was not born here, haven’t heard English 18 hours per day for the past 30 years. How would I know if it SOUNDS better or not?” Needless to say, I got into a dead end and was very frustrated. Does this sound familiar to you? You, who are learning a foreign language? Well, after a long time of frustrations I picked and OLD English grammar book (The OLD books are the best). Sat down and studied it. I was so thrilled to find the reason behind the “It sounds good” explanation. Anyone telling you that “this is how you say it” without the grammar explanations, please don’t buy it. There IS a grammar explanation to almost anything. All you have to do is to find the correct books that don’t just teach you to repeat phrases like a robot but tell you the reason behind it so that you would then be able to think WITH it and APPLY it every time.

If you never liked grammar at school as a student of a foreign language you will have to revisit it. Learn the Parts of Speech in your OWN language first and then you’ll find that you are having a much easier time in learning the foreign language.

All my books (except for the Primer) have a fantastic glossary with grammar terms that are defined and explained simply and clearly.